Homes: Open all hours

Homes: Open all hours

This former corner shop was converted into a gloomy home in the 80s. Now, thanks to its young architect-owner, it's got a third lease of life – as a sunny home for two.

Caroline Ednie

Friday 9 March 2012 10.30 EST
First published on Friday 9 March 2012 10.30 EST

A boxy newsagent-turned-nasty-80s-conversion, tacked on the end of one of Edinburgh’s glorious Victorian tenements, didn’t, at first glance, seem a likely home. But architect
Tim Bayman has turned the two drab floors into a sunny, three-floor family house. The narrow, squat building – in a prime Edinburgh location, just 10 minutes’ walk from the centre – was badly converted in the 1980s into a (very dark) home: half of it was subterranean and the entire space was gloomy. The refurbishment, which cost £70,000 (the property, £161,000) and took five months, involved reverting the property back to a “shop-front” for the street-facing entrance. “The previous conversion tried to make it homely by taking out the large window,” Bayman says, “but you need a large bit of glass to bring light into the building.” Etched glass keeps a bit of privacy.

By adding a mezzanine floor, Bayman has created three levels – an industrial, egg-yolk-yellow steel staircase running between them like a ribbon, from basement to roof. Floors are engineered oak, flashes of original brick wall are left exposed, and steel girders that resemble roof beams are painted the same yellow as the stairs.

The ground-floor living/dining/kitchen/bathroom space with a light well in the roof. The G Plan dining table is from Bayman's wife Lizzie’s mother; and the David Rowland
40/4 chairs were from a local vintage furniture shop.

A basement snug, complete with a wood-burning stove from Danish brand
Morso, is accessed via a plywood staircase that houses a built-in bookcase. Bayman picked up the 1945 black LCW chair by Charles & Ray Eames on eBay for £125 – try your luck there, or they cost from £983 new at
Heal’s – and most of the artwork is by friends or family.

“We got married last year, but before we did Lizzie and I pooled our resources to see if we could afford a better home,” Bayman says. “We had a budget of £230,000. By sticking to £70,000 for the conversion, we’ve got a great home we could never have afforded, and have brought a terrible conversion back to life.”